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S.E. Cupp Unfiltered

President Trump Makes Patriotism All About Him; Rep. Justin Amash (R) Michigan Quits Republican Party; Biden Apologizes For Comments About Segregationist Senators; Sen. Bernie Sanders (D) Vermont Poll Numbers Slip Following First Debate. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 06, 2019 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:00]

S.E. CUPP, CNN S.E. CUPP UNFILTERED: Welcome to Unfiltered. We begin quickly with two breaking stories that CNN continues to follow.

First, a gas explosion devastating parts of a shopping center in Plantation, Florida. According to officials, at least 21 people have been injured, two seriously. Authorities have concluded a search of the area and believe all the injured have been taken to area hospitals.

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.

And the latest on the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked Southern California last night, it was the second quake in as many days. The town of Ridgecrest, California and the surrounding area continues to deal with hundreds of aftershocks.

Residents there are also dealing with the fear that there is a chance, albeit a small one, just 3 percent, that a quake larger than the one they experienced last night is still to come.

CNN will continue to monitor both of these situations throughout the evening and weekend, so stay right here for updates.

Elsewhere, you may be enjoying some time off while the 2020 democratic candidates are running around the country, making all kinds of headlines. We'll hit them all. That's coming up.

But first, here's tonight's headline. President Trump, you didn't build that. President Trump is holed up in his New Jersey golf course this weekend, winding down after his big 4th of July politico-military extravaganza. And I think now that we're two days removed from it, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. There were no tanks rolling down the street, it didn't look like something out of North Korea.

Trump also delivered a fairly straightforward speech about American exceptionalism, on a day in which that's totally appropriate, with only one minor historical revision. Just to set the record straight, no, there were no airports in the time of the American Revolution. Trump also refrained from using the majestic Washington Mall backdrop and patriotic occasion to lob insults at his political opponents, real or imagined.

All in all, it was a pretty traditional affair. I'm not really mad at any of it. The F-22 and stealth bomber flyovers, the Bradleys on display, I think we can celebrate our ideals and values while also celebrating our military, the men and women who defend them.

I don't even mind that he's already turned the whole thing into B-roll and Tweeted out a snazzy video of the event, you know, for his scrapbook. But here is what made me sad this 4th of July.

I'm usually one of those gals who likes to gear up for Independence Day. I love this country and I want to show it. I like to put on my America tank top, throw a patriotic koozie on an adult beverage and post funny memes to social media, like Ronald Reagan riding a velociraptor or Abe Lincoln on a grizzly bear.

But this year, for some reason, I didn't feel right doing any of that. That's because, more than ever, patriotism feels synonymous with Trump.

Here's the deal. Trump has hijacked patriotism and I'm not here for it. When the President of the United States turns our democratic ideals on their head, ideals like a free press and free and fair elections, undermining them just to make himself look better, making us doubt our very best assets, he doesn't want you to love America, he wants you to love him.

When the President of the United States demands abject, unwavering loyalty of members of Congress, people who pledged an oath to uphold the constitution, not whatever he says, people who were elected to represent us, not him, when he weaponizes that loyalty, he's saying above all else, even above America herself, you have to love me.

When the President of the United States protects and puffs up enemies of ours, people who hate us and everything we stand for with every fiber of their totalitarian beings, when he puts his faith in their word against ours, it's because he's decided they don't have to love America, it's more important that they love him.

In Trump's mind, he is America. Patriotism means celebrating him.

Now, even if you're a Trump supporter, that should be deeply disturbing. History has shown us a couple of guys like that. They don't usually end up doing great things.

So he can boast about crowd size all he wants. He can pretend he is what we're all celebrating this weekend. He can imagine he's somehow responsible for our greatness, I am celebrating America, but my celebration has nothing to do with Trump. He has nothing to do with making America great and he has got nothing to do with why we're the best damn country on the planet.

[18:05:05]

I've always loved by this quote by Barbary War Naval Commander Stephen Decatur, one of my favorite historical figures. He says, our country in her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right, but our country, right or wrong. Well, that's what I posted this year.

All right, I want to hear what other folks think of all of this. Joining me now to discuss are CNN Political Commentator, Matt Lewis, CNN Political Analyst Kirsten Powers and former State Department Spokesman under Obama, Admiral John Kirby.

Admiral Kirby, let me start with you. I know you were a little uncomfortable with Trump's focus on the military, but it wasn't the military parade we all had feared, right?

JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: That's right. And I was glad to see that his grand ambitions after watching the Bastille Day celebrations two years ago in Paris sort of were trimmed down here. And it wasn't quite as extravagant as it was.

But, S.E., it still bothered me that he tried to shoehorn on to the 4th of July what he really wanted to do on Veterans' Day. Even though it was trimmed down, it was still a little more ostentatious than I'm comfortable with.

And, frankly, that's not who the military is as an institution, we're not into ostentation and we don't want to appropriate a national holiday like the 4th of July for our ourselves.

Now, again, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it still made me very uncomfortable.

CUPP: I understand that. Kirsten, Trump really seems to equate patriotism with supporting him and not just this weekend. He's asked American farmers to make, quote, patriotic sacrifices to support his trade war. He's called the media unpatriotic for doing our job. U.S. Women soccer stars are unpatriotic for not wanting to visit him in the White House.

I mean, for conservatives, patriotism has been typically reserved for a celebration of ideals, not demagogues, right?

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I don't think that he can separate the two things. He really is somebody who expects everybody to sort of revere him, be loyal to him, and that to him is the same thing as being an American.

And like you said, we've seen it over and over again, where he talks frankly like some sort of tyrant, not like a democratically elected President of the United States, who has the capacity to understand the difference between occupying the Oval Office as a person versus sort of talking about himself almost like he's a king.

CUPP: Yes. Matt, according to a new Gallup poll, 70 percent of adults say they're extremely or very proud to be Americans. And that's the lowest figure in the poll's 18-year history. Only 45 percent are extremely proud. The second year in a row that that measure is below a majority. Do you think, is that about Trump or is it that his opponents have been hammering America's awfulness for the past two plus years?

MATT LEWIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think all of it. I think that if you're a progressive and Donald Trump is president, that might impact the way you answer that question, at least for now.

And I think that, yes, you do have people on the left who actually are not terribly proud of this country and I think that the one thing that made Donald Trump -- you know, that helped Donald Trump, if he wants patriotism to be synonymous with supporting Trump, I think that the controversy with Colin Kaepernick and Nike and the Betsy Ross flag certainly helped him kind of create that contrast.

CUPP: Admiral Kirby, the divide was really in stark relief on Thursday. On the one side of the National Mall, concertgoers and protesters, there were protests continuing today, and on the other hand, you know, MAGA hats, military personnel. I mean, two ways of expressing patriotism. But it just feels like there are two Americas right now.

KIRBY: Yes, , and I think that you're right. You sort of look at what happened there on the Mall and you can see that. But in a way, S.E., and despite these poll numbers, that kind of gives me hope, right, that we can all still be Americans and disagree about what it means to be an American and sort of where the country is going.

And if there was one glaring omission from the President's speech, and I admit that my criticism in the moment was too harsh than it probably should have been, that you're right, it wasn't political, but he didn't take an opportunity to talk about where America is going in the future and how we can get there together. And the Mall demonstrations kind of develop or sort of demonstrate how divided we are.

Again, that's not all bad. It's good to have, you know, a diversion of opinions here. But I would like to see him try to use the 4th of July, which should be a unifying holiday, to sort of move us all together in one sort of direction.

CUPP: Well, Matt and Kirsten, I want to get your take on this. Matt, I'll start with you.

Justin Amash announced he's quitting the Republican Party. This was after taking on Trump on the Mueller report. Trump has since called him disloyal, no surprise there.

We've seen these short bursts of right flight, Steve Schmidt, George Will, Joe Scarborough, they really only result in like a one-day headline.

[18:10:02]

Not much happens after these people announce they're quitting the party. I want to know your thoughts on leaving the party versus maybe staying in it to fix it.

LEWIS: Well, I think it was the right move for Justin Amash to do. And some people say, you should have stayed to fix it. That ship has sailed at this point. I hope he does run for president. I think that -- you know, Bill Clinton used to say, it's better to be wrong and strong than right and weak.

And I think one difference between Justin Amash and some of the others, not everyone you mentioned, but people, say, like Jeff Flake, for example, who stood up to Trump, but I think did so in a way that was not very strong.

I think Amash is tough and, look, is he going to beat Donald Trump? No. Can he create a beacon of hope for young conservatives and libertarians and maybe a pathway forward after Donald Trump? I think he can.

CUPP: Kirsten, your thoughts on Amash quitting?

POWERS: Well, I think -- first of all, I think he's an extremely principled person. I disagree with him on a lot of things, but I've always had a lot of respect for him. And he is somebody who really does stand by his principles.

And so if anybody is going to do it, it's going to be Justin Amash, right? I would expect -- you know, I'm not surprised that he's the person who's sort of stood up against -- you know, particularly in the Mueller report, when most republicans were going along with it.

I think it's always a very personal thing, right, whether you're going to stay or leave. And people have to sort of decide, they have to look at where they are and decide whether or not they think they're actually able to make a change. It seems like right now, it's not really making that much of a difference for people who stay.

CUPP: Yes. Listen, great discussion, guys, Matt Lewis, Kirsten Powers, Admiral John Kirby. Thanks for joining me on this holiday weekend. I hope you guys have a great 4th weekend.

The democratic presidential candidates are all over the map this weekend, really. If you live in an early voting state, you will not be able avoid them.

But I'm going to focus on just a few, starting with Joe Biden, who's spending his weekend in South Carolina, and Kamala Harris, who will also be in that state.

More on the polling frontrunners and how quickly much fortunes may have changed while you were eating hot dogs, after the break. Stick around.

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[18:15:00]

CUPP: It may be a holiday weekend, but the 2020 democratic primary rests for no one. Former Vice President Joe Biden is in South Carolina today, where he did something he is not prone to. He apologized for his comments a few weeks ago, where he talked about working with segregationists. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Was I wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression to people that I was praising those men who I successfully opposed time and again? Well, yes, I was. I regret it. And I'm sorry if any of the pain or misconception that may have caused anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUPP: Wow. That's new. And he wasn't done. He also said this about the 194 crime bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I supported the bill. I will accept responsibility for what went right, but I will also accept responsibility for what went wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUPP: The Biden we'd gotten used to seeing on the campaign trail not only made a habit of refusing to apologize, he even once demanded his opponent apologize for something. So maybe he's trying a new tact.

Along with today's apologies, he also gave a fresh and rare interview to CNN's Chris Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The American people think they know me and they know me. Since that occurred, I had the most sought-after endorsement for the Mayor of Atlanta, a black woman who's a great leader, Mayor Bottoms, endorse me. I've had numerous members of the black caucus endorse me.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Are you worried about the poll slipping with African-Americans after the debate?

BIDEN: No, no, these folks just came. I'm making the point to you, I don't see it. People know who I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUPP: You know voters know me may sound like a good campaign line for a guy who's been in politics for four decades, but Biden's forgotten there's a whole new generation of voters who don't actually know him.

And to reach them, he should do more press. CNN interview this week is just the fourth formal interview Biden has given since announcing his candidacy, and all were with major media outlet.

Now, contrast that with Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has given dozens of interviews, from small podcasts to national outlets, or Senator Elizabeth Warren who has taken a very similar approach. I've had a bunch of candidates on this show.

Biden may think he doesn't have to introduce himself the way other candidates do, but he's only robbing himself of good opportunities to meet new voters, maybe even a few who don't care about what he said in the '70s.

With me now to discuss is republican strategist John Brabender and democratic strategist, Basil Smikle.

So, Basil, earlier today, Biden took another try at cleaning up after his Harris debate confrontation. He apologized for the first time for the comments he made about working with segregationist senators. He also seemed no apologize for the crime bill or at least the bad parts. And then he leaned on President Obama's vetting of him in defense of his record. Did he clean it all up?

BASIL SMIKLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: He did a lot of good with his -- with the apology. He seemed very contrite. So I won't say it's completely reversed, because there was some damage, but he stopped the hemorrhaging, and I think that was very important.

And I liked what he said in trying to tie his record to a very popular Barack Obaman, who is still extraordinarily popular, gets a lot of support from the African-American community. So I would -- I'd wanted him to do a little bit of that earlier. Maybe he should have done this apology a little closer to the debate, so it wouldn't have caused as much damage.

But I like where he is now. And we still have enough time for him to do a lot of what you talked about, which is, do these interviews, go meet voters, because there are a lot of young people that don't know you and they're used to having more access to their candidates through Twitter or other means. So he has to have that level of accessibility to, I think, get people more comfortable with his record.

CUPP: Well, and to the point, John, Biden went on The View, where he had a very friendly audience, even Meghan McCain, the conservative on the panel, is very close with him.

[18:20:01]

He went on GMA with his wife, Jill. He went on MSNBC with Al Sharpton. And he sat down with Cuomo, whom he's known for years.

I'm not suggesting any of those people were easy or soft on Joe Biden. Chris, especially, I thought, was tough on him.

But those aren't exactly risky spots to go, right? They're major media outlets with very well-known people. Should he, from a strategy point of view, should he go on a podcast? Should he go on some cool serious, you know, radio show?

JOHN BRABENDER, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Well, first of all, he's not going to be able to go on every place he wants to and have somebody else there with him to hold his hand.

The second problem he has is the democrat base in a democrat primary really isn't in love with Joe Biden. They like him. And what they're being reminded is, first of all, they thought, well, he could beat Trump. We're told he could beat Trump. Now, he looks like a disaster in a debate and people are sitting there saying, well, maybe he can't do well against Trump.

And then, third of all, and the biggest problem of all, Joe Biden has no message discipline, none. And so what you saw today, he first was a victim and then he changed it to the apology tour. That means someone sat him down on his campaign and saying, what you're trying to do doesn't work. But I think the problem is he just cannot keep his mouth shut when he should and can't stay on message.

SMIKLES: But I think that that's actually a good thing, that his campaign sat him down and said, look, these gaffes, not helping. You know, you have to be a little more disciplined. Because the truth is --

CUPP: And the defiance.

SMIKLES: And the defiance. Because in some ways, that's reminiscent of Trump, right, the things that voters don't like about Trump, that defiance, that, say whatever you want.

Now, there are people, I think, initially that said, that would be great to go up against Donald Trump. But now, you're on -- you're running for office. Now, you're running for president. And you have to speak to more policy. You have all of these other candidates speaking in very specific policy terms, particularly to the African- American community, being with Obama as his Vice President was great, wonderful. We love you for that. What are you going to do henceforth? And I think that's really important for him going forward.

CUPP: And, John, you know, I still think maybe Biden is the best general election candidate to take on Trump, maybe. But he seems frustrated, frustrated that he has to explain himself, frustrated that he has to defend his record, frustrating that he has to justify, you know, his career in politics.

In that Chris Cuomo interview that was long, you know, he said, come on, man, a bunch of times, as if to say, come on, man, why are you asking me? You know me? How long can he do that?

BRABENDER: He even said, why are we talking about the past? We shouldn't have to talk about our records. We should be talking about what we're going to do. You have to run on your record.

CUPP: This is a presidential campaign.

BRABENDER: But on the same token, like he did today, well, for 50 years I've done that. All that says to all these voters that are Millennials and Generation Z is that he's the old the guy. I mean, that's the problem he has, is every time he thinks he's making something better from a messaging standpoint, I think he's making it worse for him. CUPP: Basil, someone just Tweeted, I believe today, yes, or maybe someone on his behalf, there's a couple of words in here that I don't think he would use. Joe Biden is a reclamation project. Some things are just not salvageable. China and other countries that ripped us off for years are begging for him. He deserted our military, our law enforcement and our healthcare, added more debt than all other presidents combined. Won't win.

SMIKLE: I don't know about any of the factual parts of that, right? I don't' even want to -- right.

CUPP: The facts.

SMIKLE: that's a PhD study in and of itself. But I do think -- look, I think there's a lot of time that Joe Biden can fix this for himself as long as he doesn't fall behind in the polls, because then, I don't know if he actually gets the lead.

CUPP: Well, he's not there yet. We'll be watching it. John, Basil, thank you so much, as always.

Okay. Sometimes choosing a candidate of the week is hard. This week, it wasn't. And the lucky winner might not be thrilled.

Plus, a little later, the latest on the migrant crisis on the border and the political fight over it.

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[18:25:00]

CUPP: The 2020 democratic candidates ramp up preparation for the second round of democratic debates later this month, right here on CNN.

Bernie Sanders probably hopes he's in a better place by then, but for now, he's slipping in the polls. Today, he's campaigning in Las Vegas, but lady luck isn't on his side at the moment. He's now fourth down from second in the latest CNN poll.

And while Sanders' campaign raised an impressive $18 million in the second quarter, his fundraising total trails that of both former Vice President Joe Biden and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the latter candidate with far less national name I.D.

On the plus side for Bernie, his base of supporters remains very enthusiastic about a Sanders presidency, but that base doesn't appear to be growing.

So here to discuss, my candidate of the week, Bernie Sanders, is a guy who knows all the numbers, CNN's Senior Political Writer and Analyst, Harry Enten.

Harry, break down Sanders' slipping poll numbers for us. What's this about? HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes. So, I mean, let's take a look at where he was pre-debate versus post-debate, and we can look at all the candidates and see how that debate may have affected things.

What we see is that Biden is still in the lead, but, obviously, he has fallen down at 25 percent or so in the polls. But what we see now is Kamala Harris has jumped up to second place.

And what see is that Bernie Sanders has slipped down to third place right now. You see it on the screen right now. He's down at 15 percent. This is an average of our CNN poll, a Quinnipiac University poll as well as an ABC News, Washington Post poll.

But it's more than that. It's not just that he's in third place overall, it's also where he's third place amongst.

So take a look at the very liberal lane right now. So I took an average of our CNN poll as well as the Quinnipiac University poll. What did we find that among very liberal voters, these are the voters that Bernie Sanders should be winning, he's in third place among them. That is not a place where Bernie Sanders wants to be right now.

CUPP: So how is he looking, not against other democrats, but how is he looking against Trump?

ENTEN: Yes. So, I mean, this is one of the key questions that democrats are asking themselves this primary season. Who can beat Donald Trump? That's what they want more than anybody else. And right now, Bernie Sanders is far behind Joe Biden on this question of who do you think the best candidate is to beat beat Trump.

CUPP: Well, it looks like everyone's far behind, right?

ENTEN: Everyone is far behind Joe Biden. But I think this is a real -- you know, Bernie Sanders has said over and over again, I'm the one who can best take on Trump. I'm the one who can contrast my record versus his.

CUPP: Yes. But if he's number -- let me -- I mean, let me just stop you right there. Because if he's number two behind Biden --

ENTEN: A distant number two.

CUPP: But that's still -- I mean, that's still pretty good.

ENTEN: I mean, I guess, to me, look, what you essentially have is Joe Biden is still very --

CUPP: And then everyone else.

ENTEN: And then everybody else.

CUPP: Right.

ENTEN: And then I think that's the real problem. Bernie Sanders is someone who's been running now for four, five, six years he's been running for President. And the fact that you cannot convince the American public, the democratic party that you are the best to take on Donald Trump to me is very, very troubling news for this guy.

CUPP: So Bernie is in Vegas, maybe he's hoping he'll pick up some luck but what does history say about his chances at this point in the race?

ENTEN: Yes, so one of the more fascinating things to me as I went back and looked at those who had previously run before with a runner ups and said, "OK, how did those candidates do the second time around when they're leading in the polls versus when they're trailing at the polls at this point.

CUPP: OK.

ENTEN: And when you're leading in the polls, you actually usually win. You win five out of five times, you go back since 1972. But when you're trailing like Bernie Sanders is right now, he's not leading any legitimate poll, those candidates have only won one out of eight times just, 13 percent of time. That's the group he's in. So it's not like he's dead in the water, but it's not looking good for him from a historical standpoint at this point.

CUPP: Yikes. Well, he's got some time before that next debate.

ENTEN: He's got time and look he's going to be able to stay in this race for a very long time because he's raised a ton of money.

CUPP: Right.

ENTEN: Even though he's behind Buttigieg and Biden for the second quarter, he still has raised a ton of money. He has that enthusiastic base, we'll see if he's able to build on that going forward.

CUPP: All right. Harry Enten, very illuminating. Thanks ...

ENTEN: I try my best, happy summer.

CUPP: ... for the crunching numbers. OK. All right. One 2020 candidate whose faring better is Kamala Harris. She spoke today. More on that next.

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[18:05:08] CUPP: Senator Kamala Harris rode her wave of momentum to the ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans today where seven Democratic candidates made their pitches at what's billed as the largest gathering of black women ever in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People will often come up to me and they will say, "Well, Kamala, talk to us a little bit about black people's issues." And I look at them and I say, "You know what? I am so glad you want to talk about the economy. I am so glad you want to talk about healthcare. I am so glad you want to talk about the racial wealth gap and let's talk about National Security while we're at it."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUPP: The speech came after her three-day trip to Iowa. A state that's suddenly in her campaign sites now that she's surged into the top tier candidates. Harris is now in second in the democratic field based on CNN's latest national poll. Her 17 percent edges out. Elizabeth Warren is 15 percent and Bernie Sanders 14 percent. Joe Biden still leads by a smaller margin now at 22 percent.

Somewhat surprisingly that same order holds for Iowa caucus goers. Biden is first and Harris is second. In a new Suffolk University-USA Today poll. Before this post debate boost, the Harris campaign was mainly focusing on the primary in South Carolina, which falls about three weeks after the Iowa caucus in February.

But now that an Iowa win could be within reach, can our campaign adapt and build a ground game there? It's a good problem to have. Joining me now to discuss is a Democrat who endorsed Harris in the 2020 race. CNN Political Commentator Bakari Sellers. So Bakari, Harris has visited Iowa fewer times than Sanders, Warren and Cory Booker but her campaign has hired 30 new field organizers and three statewide operatives there. Is an Iowa caucus victory, really in her grasp?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think so and I think the campaign thinks it is. I mean even more importantly what we see is that Senator Harris isn't writing off Iowa. There were a lot of reports that all of a sudden she was just going to jump in the primary and hope to win South Carolina and that would be it. But I think that what you're starting to see or do is ramp up in Iowa and Nevada and also New Hampshire.

I mean I think that all three of those early states are within her grasp. But even more importantly, I think people are looking at it slightly wrong. She's going to do well in those states. I don't necessarily believe she think that she has to win those states.

CUPP: Yes.

SELLERS: But I do think that some of the other frontrunners have to win those states before they hit into the deep south.

CUPP: No, I think that's a good point. I think her momentum really started with the Biden debate face off and she was obviously prepared to capitalize on that moment with T-shirts and merch. But the moments passed, now how does she keep the momentum going?

SELLERS: Well, I think that's the most important question and what you're seeing is that after you had that contrast of records and after you had a debate where everybody understands that she won that debate. Actually, most people think she won both days coming up that you have to go in and say, "What's next?"

Well, today, she went down to ESSENCE Fest and she began to roll out an agenda to help remedy the ratio wealth gap in this country. She was talking about $100 billion for black home ownership. I mean people actually take for granted the black vote. And oftentimes people think that black voters are just going to come out for one reason or another.

But what Senator Harris and I have to say Elizabeth Warren are doing are making sure that you give black voters a reason to come out. Today was a very, very strong policy proposal while some candidates are talking about and unraveling and talking about things and apologies, et cetera, Senator Harris is actually laying out a plan and I think she's going to do that for the remainder of the month and lay out more policy points.

CUPP: I don't know what you're talking about, Bakari. No, listen, speaking of Biden still enjoys still enjoys the lion's share of African American support and Kamala gave a rousing speech at ESSENCE Fest today. Can she chip away at those voters given that basically the Obama coalition was handed over to Biden. If Biden sort of crumbles, does Obama have to give it to Kamala. I mean she doesn't just show up and get it.

SELLERS: No. It doesn't work that way. The Obama coalition wasn't handed over to Joe Biden and in fact Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

CUPP: No he did inherit a lot of the infrastructure.

SELLERS: Well, I mean, you have some people working for him, but I mean the fact is that there are individuals and people will tell you this that Joe Biden is running a campaign using Barack Obama more so as a shield of his record than anything else. I mean, he's going to have to earn black voters just like Senator Harris is going to have to earn black voters. That's a fact. And what you're starting to see --

CUPP: But he already have the most of any of the candidates. He's already earned many.

SELLERS: Oh, so far, but --

CUPP: Yes.

SELLERS: Yes. No. I mean no elections have been had yet and what you're starting to see is, yes, he started out with the lead that was very, very wide in this poll, and I will tell everyone that his support in the black community is very wide. It's not deep though and the more voters get a chance to meet other candidates, the more you're going to see that support in the black community chip away.

[18:40:06] Look, I mean, we haven't even started talking about the 94 crime bill which she apologized today for, but he didn't apologize for the '86 and '88 crime bills. I mean we haven't even started to talk about the future plans that he will put out because we're still talking about his past. So I think that what you're seeing the Harris campaign do is build those contrasts but also begin to lay out plans for the future and try to earn black votes. That's what black voters want.

CUPP: Sure.

SELLERS: I mean I don't even take that for granted with Senator Harris. I push her ...

CUPP: Yes, of course.

SELLERS: ... push her campaign to always make sure that you're giving black voters a reason to come out and she's been excelling at that.

CUPP: Well, back to Biden's record, some have suggested maybe she was too hard on him that she's taking him out of context, that she's misrepresenting his record. Do you think the immediate sugar rush of that moment could end in a crash if she goes back to some of the other things and really keeps sort of going back to that well?

SELLERS: Well, listen, I'm not on the campaign, but I hope they spend this month focusing on those policy proposals that they're rolling out in this larger black agenda talking about that hundred billion dollars for black home ownership. But I mean I think you might have been with me, S.E. We were in a press spin room in St. Louis During a debate when Donald Trump trotted out all five of Bill Clinton's alleged accusers before debate.

CUPP: I was there.

SELLERS: So Joe Biden is not prepared for Senator Harris, questioning him rightfully so about being on the wrong side of history in 1972. He ain't giong to be ready for Donald Trump. This was about 10 percent about busing.

CUPP: Oh, I can only imagine. Yes.

SELLERS: Ten percent busing, 90 percent about electability and she showed that she was just as electable if not more than Joe Biden. And that's what this moment was about.

CUPP: Bakari Sellers, always to a pleasure to get your insight. Thank you.

SELLERS: Give you a kiss, my best. OK, S.E.

CUPP: You too. You too.

SELLERS: All right. When we come back, both parties acknowledge a border crisis, but neither seems able to fix it. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:55] CUPP: In THE RED FILE tonight, outrage over the crisis at the southern border. There was controversy this week after offensive post to a private Facebook group associated with Customs and Border enforcement members came to light. CNN has now discovered another Facebook group with ties to CBP that just like the first includes vulgar and sexually explicit posts about migrants and some members of Congress. Awkwardly, this came as members of the Democratic Hispanic caucus

toward two Texas border facilities this week and called the conditions at those centers appalling. Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro tweeted this video of women in CBP custody cramped on the floor. He said they were denied showers for up to 15 days.

The President has praised the conditions before leaving for a weekend at his New Jersey golf club.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've seen some of those places. They are run beautifully. They're clean. They're good. They do a great job.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: They do a great job. They're crowded because the Democrats will not be give us any relief from these loopholes.

CUPP: Well, let's talk to someone who has seen this crisis firsthand. He was part of that Congressional Hispanic caucus tour this week. Texas Congressman Marc Veasey. First, let me get your reaction to these Facebook groups with apparent ties to CBP. I will not malign law enforcement writ large, but some of these groups that share vulgar posts about the migrants in their care.

REP. MARC VEASEY (D-TX): Yes. Of course, as you know when we were in El Paso several days ago, that's when it broke that there was a Facebook group. The officials that we talked with that were part of our escort and taking us to the various facilities in El Paso. They told us that they just heard of this and that they were appalled. The problem that I really have is that if these pages are as are as old as - and now it's being reported up to three years, perhaps, how in the world they just now hear about this?

CUPP: Yes.

VEASEY: Of course, they should be embarrassed but we were worried that some of the people that were a part of our escort team may actually be a part of the Facebook page that we learned about at the time, just because there were so many individuals that were a part of it, current employees that were part of it. Of course, there were some former employees that made up a big chunk of the Facebook page but then there were also a lot of current employees too and that's just unacceptable.

CUPP: I want to give you an opportunity to tell me what you saw at the border facility that you visited.

VEASEY: I did see that particular cell that Joaquin Castro, my colleague from Texas, was able to record. If I'm not mistaken, that was the cell that was mainly of Cuban migrants. We were told that they were all being forced into that very crowded holding cell and it looks just like a holding cell like if you were to visit a large city county lockup in any of our large cities across the country. And we were told that they were all being huddled in there and crammed

in there like that, because they were all Cubans and the Cubans don't mix well with people from other Latin American countries. And they were crying. It was very sad. There was one grandmother that actually told a story of her mentally impaired grandson being separated from her.

And what I really think is going on here is that the people that are running these facilities, the people with customs. Because you hear a president and the rhetoric of the President uses and he holds migrants in such low regard, that I think they actually feel entitled to do whatever it is they want. I mean even when we get ready to go to our press conference, we were saying, "Hey, the people that are out there, that are that are pro Trump wearing these mega hats, they're going to be saying insulting things to us. So why don't we move the press conference somewhere else?"

And they wouldn't even entertain it. They wouldn't even allow it and I just think that they're very indifferent to a lot of the problems and the culture within that agency, because they have a president that pretty much just absolutely has lack of respect for the law.

[18:50:17] CUPP: Two weeks ago, President Trump halted ICE raids across the country for two weeks to, quote, see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the asylum and loophole problems at the southern border. That deadline is today.

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, said expressly she would not be working on reforming asylum laws over those two weeks. Has anything been done? Have you all gotten together to try and solve this very urgent problem?

VEASEY: I hope that we do. Of course, if you think about this ...

CUPP: Well, today is the deadline.

VEASEY: ... today is the deadline and Congress goes back in on Tuesday. I hope that we can work in my opinion, we need to obviously passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill, that's what will ultimately fix this entire problem. The thing that Donald Trump is talking about is politics as usual. We have strong asylum laws.

Right now we adopted the Refugee Act of 1980 and adopted the Geneva Convention asylum laws including the definition of who can seek asylum and we need to follow those.

CUPP: Well, we'll see. We'll see if you guys can get together and sort this awful problem out. Congressman Veasey. Thank you so much for joining me tonight. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:55:04] CUPP: In other news today, VanDelay Industries, a latex manufacturer suffered some significant layoffs, cutting about 300 of his Upper West Side based employees. CEO Arth VanDelay blamed the cuts on the company's long-standing decision to focus primarily on exporting and not importing. The company had also been increasingly facing some stiff competition from ChriMerica Industries, the company behind the oil tanker bladder, the rollout Thai dispenser, and mustard and ketchup in the same bottle. The entire enterprise is nothing more than a solitary man in a messy apartment which may or may not contain a chicken.

A wave of new city regulations also taking on some cities scourges, among the targets facing tough new guidelines mom and pop shoe stores, Joe's fruit stand, illegal cockfighting, parking lot prostitution, Rudy's antique boutique, dog kidnapping, people who bring their own cafe lattes into movie theaters, naming names, taking reservations without holding reservations and regifting.

The mayor's office says frozen yogurt that masquerades as non fat will also get a hard look. In sports, recent football game was interrupted when a fan was mistaken for a famous serial killer with whom he shares the same name. He's now considering changing his name to Dion (ph). And at a baseball game, two fans claim that as they were leaving one of the baseball players actually spat on them.

They aren't certain which player it was and they say there may have actually been a second spitter. That's the news, yadi yadi yada. Happy 30th anniversary to the greatest television show of all time. That's it for me.

But before I go, make sure you don't miss CNN's new original series, THE MOVIES. Get the stories behind the films you love straight from the actors and directors who brought them to life starting tomorrow night. THE MOVIES premiere Sunday at 9:00 pm only on CNN. Ana Cabrera is in the CNN NEWSROOM next.